March 6, 2010 – Hike in Pinnacles National Monument.
I got a call on eve of hike from Paul, dragging his feet, citing that maybe we should postpone the hike as there was a 20 % chance of showers. He did not tell me the real reason till later that he had not slept properly for last two days because he was travelling. I pushed back, we ended up going in morning. Good thing that I was driving as he was tired and slept in the car.
Well, there was a personal reason as why I wanted to be out of the house for the day. Promila had started a big Home Project couple of weeks ago. She had made good progress, taking wall paper & baseboards off, taping the walls, then texturing the wall with mud and priming it. However, whole house was a mess. There were paint rollers, brushes, mud buckets; and I did not want to get into any sticky situation ( read argument). I have been telling myself, this is an opportunity to practice my patience to unprecedented levels. And I had to admire her quality that she could live in chaos for relatively long periods in order to accomplish her vision.
This hike turns out to be a pleasant surprise. I initially thought that it would be just some rock formation and caves. Well, it was exactly that, however the rocks were weathered over last 23 million years to make some unique structures and shapes. The rocks were made originally by volcanic eruption of unusual kind, i.e., a 45 mile long volcano which sputtered over the years instead of blowing off. With recent rains, we saw more than couple of falls, streams and reservoirs. Park was relatively empty. When we reached the peak, we met a volunteer, Dan Burns.
Though I had studied about the park before doing the hike, that March is the right time to hike in the Park as the upper portion of caves opens up for four weeks in March only. Caves are closed for most of the season because of Talus bats living in them. The bat colony in the Bear Gulch Cave is the largest maternity colony between San Francisco and Mexico. The male of bat species portrays eerily close to a typical human male behavior. They come to this cave for mating season, twice a year; and as per another park volunteer Ed, disappear for Football and beers, leaving mothers to do most of initial rearing of young ones. That was another reason, I was pushing to do this hike now than later.
Dan told us another fascinating story about Condors. Pinnacle was a sanctuary for Condors, which are now only 350 left in the world. He was sure about the numbers as Condors are protected species and all have radio transmitters on them. There were some vultures which were flying in the sky at that time, he mentioned that these are Turkey Vultures with 6-7 feet wing span, however Condors have 10 feet wingspan. Not that you would know the difference when they are flying at such a high altitude. The difference is that Condor has diamond shape white patch under their wings while Turkey Vulture has just a long white streak at tip of their wings. Curious me, I asked how did they catch all the Condors ? Dan mentioned that once a year they put some animals carcasses in open area. However, Condors does not have sense of smell, just very good sight. Turkey vultures on other hand had a very good sense of smell. Condors follow Turkey Vultures, that is how they get to food and subsequently get caught.
There are reported to be around 25 Condors in the park. Bring your binoculars. As per Dan, Condors are very social creatures. If you happen to go in summer, take lot of water with you; as you would not want to be in a situation where you have to be friendly with the Condors (vultures). There are a lot of warnings in the park about keeping plenty of water, it gets hot in summer. Recorded age of the longest living Condor in captivity is 77 years.
There were plenty of rock climbing opportunities in this park. I tried by hands on few. Water streams, caves, tunnels and falls made this hike a very pleasant experience. We ended up doing 11 miles hike instead of planned 7 miles. There are more than one loops you can do. However, Bear Gulch cave is within one mile from the start, so I am thinking of taking Prem (6 year old) with me. Since upper portion of caves are only open in March, I will be planning to do a smaller hike with him and Promila very soon. Email me if any of you are interested to come along.
Paicines, CA 95043-9762
Nice writeup. Thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteKeep on touching peaks and share your hiking experiences which may inspire someone
ReplyDeleteGood one! Looks like we will miss the March cut off date for this year. Will add to my calendar to do this next year (for hiking the upper caves.)
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